Search Results (6)

Individuals frequently encounter alluring food temptations that can disrupt their efforts to follow a healthy diet. These temptations may trigger pleasurable thoughts and sensations, potentially leading to unhealthy eating habits and obesity, which misalign with the goals of sustainable food systems to promote overall well-being. However, there is limited knowledge regarding how individual differences such as gender and motivation for healthy eating might impact individuals’ responses to unhealthy food temptations. In an experimental investigation, 245 participants were exposed to a tasty but low-nutrient food product (potato crisps). The results provide several new insights: (a) when individuals’ motivation for healthy eating is low, pleasurable experiences have a positive impact on perceived dietary quality; (b) pleasurable feelings also directly reduce willingness to consume potato crisps; (c) gender influences the relationship between pleasure-feeling and willingness to eat, with a negative relationship for women and a non-significant relationship for men; and (d) among women, there is a positive relationship between arousal and willingness to eat, while this relationship is non-significant for men. This study adds to the body of knowledge already available on food temptations, nutrition, and sustainable eating. Full article

Self-efficacy has a strong influence on children’s eating behavior. Feeling capable of regulating one’s eating behavior is especially relevant in situations of activation while facing temptations or experiencing negative emotions. Despite the relevance, there is no validated measure to assess children’s self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in these domains. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children based on a sample of 724 elementary school children in Portugal. The sample was split randomly into two groups, and a principal component analysis with Group 1 and a confirmatory factor analysis with Group 2 were carried out. The scale comprises two distinct but related factors—self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in activation and temptation situations and self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in negative emotional situations. Moreover, self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors was positively and statistically related to self-regulation processes toward healthy eating, declarative knowledge about healthy eating, and attitudes and perceptions toward healthy eating. The present study provides preliminary evidence that the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children is valid and reliable for evaluating children’s self-efficacy in regulating their eating behaviors. Full article

Food authenticity control represents a constant concern nowadays, and against this background, new means of food fraud detection are developed by research and control laboratories. Among the most accessible analytical methods in this regard, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy proved to be an effective tool, being rapid, cost-effective, and not requiring solvent use. However, the generated experimental data need to be further processed in an efficient manner in order to be able to accurately assess the authenticity of a certain product. The temptation to pass some more available honey varieties as rarer ones might exist and in order to detect these types of miss labeling, we proposed in this study the development of new recognition models based on supervised chemometric models and artificial intelligence. In this way a comparison between the models’ capabilities constructed based on the association between ATR-IR spectroscopy with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and support vector machines (SVM), respectively, was performed. The most efficient models for the individual botanical differentiation were developed by applying SVM on the significant spectral markers, determined through a supervised method. Full article

Low self-control and financial strain may limit individuals’ capacity to resist temptations in the local food environment. We investigated the moderating role of self-control and financial strain in the relation between the food environment and higher body weight. We used data from 2812 Dutch adults who participated in the population-based GLOBE study in 2014. Participants’ home addresses and the location of food retailers in 2013 were mapped using GIS. The density of fast food retailers and the totality of food retailers in Euclidean buffers of 250, 400 and 800 m around the home were linked to body mass index and overweight status. A higher density of fast food outlets (B (95% confidence interval (CI)) = −0.04 (−0.07; −0.01)) and the totality of food outlets (B (95% CI) = −0.01 (−0.01; −0.00)) were associated with a lower body mass index. Stratification showed that associations were strongest for those experiencing low self-control or great financial strain. For example, every additional fast food outlet was associated with a 0.17 point lower BMI in those with great financial strain, while not significantly associated with BMI in those with no financial strain. In conclusion, we did find support for a moderating role of self-control and financial strain, but associations between the food environment and weight status were not in the expected direction. Full article

The risk of obesity-related disorders is increased among the elderly, so changing eating habits can be an important element of prevention. The main aim of this article is to consider whether looking at pictures that present either fattening food or healthy food may motivate elderly people to change their nutrition habits. Might priming different kinds of food influence the attractiveness of the food for people in late adulthood undergoing obesity therapy? Based on priming theories, we analysed the effects of the conscious processing of stimuli associated with dietary habits in individuals aged with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m². Our experiments confirmed the influence of a higher-priority goal of “slimming” on the perception and internalization of nutrition-related stimuli. In response to such stimuli, individuals who are actively involved in weight reduction and health-oriented programs use strategies for resisting temptation and to effectively “slim”. We present our findings in the context of their theoretical background and practical application. Full article

Renewable energy resources and technologies are sufficient to meet all of humanity’s energy requirements, provided that the transition to renewables is accompanied in parallel by intense, disciplined initiatives to design, fabricate, and distribute ubiquitously an emerging class of ultra-efficient energy consuming devices. Renewables can thereby power devices which are disruptively more energy-efficient in the delivery of fundamental energy services (food production, cooking, heating, cooling, mobility, logistics, lighting, industrial processes, information systems, etc.). Rather than substituting new energy sources to directly power legacy devices that were originally designed on the basis of fossil fuels, designers will develop these novel devices to deliver superior performance in all respects: cleaner, safer, more durable, more convenient, and more economical. This Solarevolution, like the Industrial Revolution two hundred years ago, is about transforming the artifacts of human society. Just as labor-saving machinery replaced manual and animal labor when James Watt invented the steam engine, so now energy-saving devices powered directly by non-polluting solar electricity are beginning to replace those inefficient brute force artifacts that still depend on the burning of fossil fuels. Building upon historic perspectives and the careful examination of key renewable energy qualities, four case studies will be highlighted, not to resolve all of the issues, but to instantiate the pivotal role of design science to avert the most severe impacts of global warming and strategic resources depletion. While great attention has been given to debating the net energy of renewable energy generation technologies, the stability of society depends just as much on redesigning energy-consuming technologies, overcoming the temptation, for example, of using biofuels to feed gas-guzzling energy hogs left over from the fossil fuel era—to run internal combustion engines that can’t deliver more than 1% net efficiency. Applying the engineering principle of doing way more with way less, right now, humanity has the possibility of a bright, more secure future. Full article